Ground vase



Sept. 16, 1952 A; s, CARLSQN 2,610,443

I GROUND VASE Filed June 225,v 1949 Invnor JQQQZ $00,256

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Patented Sept. 16, 1952 UNITED 'STATES g.ATENT OFFICE Axel S. Carlson, New York, N. Y. Application June 23, 1949, Serial No. 100,918

4 Claims. (Cl. 47-41) This invention relates to ground urns or vases for use lin memorials, cemeteries and similar places, and constitutes an improvement over my U. S. Patent No. 2,438,802, entitled Ground Vase, issued on March 30, 1948.

' An object of the invention is to provide a simple, efficient, durable device which can be inserted in the ground in a suitable ground chamber and can be used to receive flowers and the like, on such occasions as call for memorializing the departed, and which can be removed for the purpose of Yreplenishing the water therein and for cleaning, but which is so related and tied to its receiving chamber that it can not be separated therefrom or stolen.

A further object is to provide an article ofthe class described, which is simple in operationso that anyone may operate it without any particu.- lar experience after the rst operation.

A still further object is to provide a device' which can be covered when not in use :and in which the cover is related to the urn in such manner, that it can not be readily removed and can not be disturbed when the plot around the urn is being mowed by a lawn mower. Y

In brief and general terms, the inventionincludes a well for a ground urn, in which well is iixedly disposed a metallic shell to which a ground cap is permanently attached. The ground cap is substantially flushed with the ground and is preferably cup-shaped and provided with recesses to receive protruding ears on the upper outer surface of an urn or vase, which depends into the well from the ground cap or plate. The topgof the device is covered by` a cover or lid having a vdependent curved .finger to engage a socket on the inner wall of the urn, and having at its opposite side -a cam shaped lug to engage with an opposite recess to jam the lid in position.

In orderto prevent the lid and the urn from being permanently removed from the well, I provide a chain yattached at one end to the under face of the lid adapted to pass through an opening in the ange on the ground plate, the other end of the chain being attached to the outer face of the urn preferably to the bottom thereof so that, while the lid and the urn may be removed in vorder to illl the urn with water, it is impossible, as long asA the chain is unbroken, to permanently remove the lid and the urn from the well.

Further and more specific objects, features, and advantages will more clearly appear from a consideration of the detailed specification hereinafter set forth especially when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which illustight intimate junction between the two elements.

2 trate a present preferred form which the invention may assume and which form part of the specification. v

The preferred form of the invention is shown in the drawings, of which:

Fig. 1 is-a vertical cross section through the device showing on the right, in dotted lines, the lid and the urn removed from the well;

Fig. `2 is a plan view of the device;

Fig. 3 is an inverted section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;* Y

Fig. 4 is a partial detail view of the `connection of the locking chain with the lid; and,

Fig. 5 is a partial detail section showing the manner in which the locking chain passes through an opening in a flange of the ground plate.

Specifically as shown, the invention concerns the provision of preferably a concrete well I0 in the ground. This well is lined with a metal shell II which is placed rst in the ground and then the concrete is poured in around it to eiectl a The top of the shell or lining .'II is covered by a Y ground plate I2, which has an outwardly extending peripheral flange I3 at the top, which extends outwardly over and beyond the top of the shell I I to rest on the surface of the ground adjacent the top of the shell I I Yas shown. The ground platev I2 is provided with a circular vertical inner wall I4 which lies Acloselyadjacent the upper inner wall of the shell II. At its bottom, this wall III isprovided with an inwardly extending ring-like flange I5, the inner opening of which is suicient to permit the reception therewithin of the ground urn or iiower vase I6. Along the peripheral upper outer wall of the urn or vase, it is provided with outwardly extending ears I'I whichV are adapted to be seated in similarly shaped seats or recesses I8 formed on the upper surface of the flange I5 of the ground plate I2. These ears and recesses may be slightly different shape so that the urn may be seated on the ground plate flange I5 in a predetermined manner only. The top wall of the urn or vase I6 is disposed and dimensioned to lie normally'flush or level with the top of the ground plate I2 as shown in Figure 1.

Adapted to be disposed over the top; or Athe urn or vase I6 is a lid or cover plate I9, which has a slightly convexly curved top wall and over the top of the ground plate I2 and slightly beyond the diameter of the ears I3 to rest on the top of the ground plate I2 snugly. The cover has adjacent its peripheral edge, a dependent outwardly extending nger 20 adapted 'to be engaged with a socket formed by the reversely curved wall 2I at the top of the ears Il, to hold the plate in position. Diametrically opposite this nger 29, is a dependent lug v22 adapted to exn tend down against an adjacent wall of the corresponding ear formed on the urn and provided with a slightly curved cam shaped front wall 23, 'which will jam the lug into position to hold the lid I9Yin place. The lid on this side of it adjacent the cam lug 22, has a slightly elevated extending iinger 24 to enable the lid to be lifted by the insertion of a tool beneath the nger to pry the lid loose. Otherwise, it is seen that the lid is only slightly elevated past the top of the ground plate so that it is not an obstruction to anyone Walking over the ground, and it does not interfere with the operation of the lawn mowers over the surrounding grassy surface.

In order to Iprovide simple means whereby neither the lid nor the urn can be permanently removed or stolen, I have provided a chain 24 which at one end is connected to a projection 2-5 on the outide of the urn near the bottom thereof. This chain passes up through an opening 26 in the ange I5 as shownin Figure 5, and the other end of it is connected Vas shown in Figure 4, to the underside of lid I9 at the point 21.

The ground plate I2 valong the bottom of the iiange I3 thereon, is provided with a series of dependent straps 28, which are suitably riveted as at I9 to the shell II. In the operation of the device, the ground plate is by means of straps 28, riveted in permanent position with respect to the shell II, and this unit is then placed in a hole in the ground with .the under-surface of the iiang'eV I3 in line with the ground level. `Concrete is then poured in around the shell and filled in until the proper level is reached beneath the fiange I3. After this is set, a very permanent connection is thereby afforded between the shell I I and the enclosing concrete well.

When one visits the plotfor the purpose of placing owers' in the urn I5, the lid I9 is pried loose under the nnger 24. By lifting on the nnger 24, the finger 20 can be removed from its socket and the cap lifted up. With this removed, the urn can be lifted up out of the shell for the purpose of cleaning and/or iilling it with fresh Water ,toV receivelowers after which, it may be replaced on the ground plate. It is obvious that the device is extremely simple, strong, durable, compact, and of few simple parts, and that the cover and the urn are s0 connected to each other and the ground plate that they can not be removed from the spot without raising the chain.

While the invention has been described in detail and with respect to the preferred form shown in the drawings, it is not to be limited to such details and forms since many changes and modincations may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest aspects. Hence, it is intended to cover any and all forms and modifications of the invention which may come within the language or scope of any one or more of the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A ground urn apparatus which comprises a Well to receive an urn, a anged ground plate disposed on the ground at the top of the well and having an aperture in the flange thereof, a cover detachably disposed on top of the plate, said cover having a slightly elevated horizontally extending iinger, an urn suspended in the well on the ground plate, a socket on the urn, a dependent lug on the cover and having a cam-shaped edge to engage with a wall of said socket to frictionally lock the cover to the urn, and a chain connected at one end to the cover and at the other end to the urn and passing through said aperture.

2. A ground urn apparatus which comprises a well to receive an urn, a anged ground plate disposed on the ground at the top ofthe Well, a metal shell forming avlining for the well and fixed to the ground plate, said ground plate ange having an aperture therein, a cover detachably disposed on top of the ground plate, said cover having a slightly elevated horizontally extending finger, an urn suspended in the well on the ground plate, a socket on the urn, a dependent lug on the cover and having a cam-shaped edge to engage with a wall of said socket to frictionally lock the cover to the urn, and a chain connected at one end to the cover and at the other end to the urn and passing through said aperture.

3. A ground urn apparatus which comprises a Well to receive an urn, a ground plate disposed on the ground at the top of the well, a shell lining the well, ngers o-n the ground plate dependent therefrom and connected to the shell, theground plate having a cup-shaped recess, the bottom of which is formed by an inwardly projecting ringlike flange having an aperture therein, a plurality of seats on the upper surface of the iiange, an urn having projecting ears at its upper end adapted to rest in said seats, a cover disposed on top of the ground plate, a dependent nger on the cover, said urn having a socket to receive said nger, a second socket on the urn opposite the first mentioned socket, and a dependent lug on the cover and having a cam-shaped edge to engage with a wall of said second socket to frctionally lock the cover to the urn.

4. A ground urn apparatus which comprises a well to receive an urn, a ground plate disposed on the ground at the top of the well, a shell lining the well, fingers on the ground plate dependent therefrom and connected to the shell, the ground plate having a cup-shaped recess, the bottom of which is formed by an inwardly projecting ringlike flange having an aperture therein, a plurality of seats on the upper surface of the flange, an urn having projecting ears at its upper end adapted to rest in said seats, a cover disposed on top of the ground plate, a dependent finger on the cover, said urn having a socket to receive said nger, a second socket on the urn opposite the first mentioned socket, a dependent lug on the cover and having a cam-shaped edge to engage with a wall of said second socket to frictionally lock the cover to the urn, and a chain connected to the under side of the cover and passing through the aperture in said ground plate flange, the other end of the chain'connected to the outside of the urn adjacent the bottom thereon within the well.

AXEL S. CARLSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 638,334 Hobert Dec. 5, 1899 1,301,676 Fitzgerald Apr. 22, 1919 2,099,329 Comstock et al Nov. 16, 1937 2,488,924 Meierjohany Nov. 22, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 291,915 Great Britain June 14, 1928 

